Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Why everyone loves to write and read book series

The first from Arkane series, free on Kindle
I do not have too many favourite series. I loved Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and later I discovered the Harry Potter and maybe some Galsworthy not so entertaining family sagas. Because I am not a telly fan and my time was usually limited, I do not have favourite TV series so my interest for both writing and reading series was usually limited.
From romance to thriller and children book, everyone is nowadays preparing long series of over 3 books at least. Mystery novels may be the best suited for such installments, as well as children books, as you can follow a character through different episodes and challenges. It also has a significant marketing advantage, as allows the writer to promote his or her books in a very organised way, eventually with a free book on Kindle. If you like the book you will be most likely tempted to continue with the rest. 
In the case of the writing planning, it helps to better manage the writing process, with a plan that may help you to organise the research and writing as such and better plan the release and promotion.
I gave a lot of tries to different series and I still have lots of books on my Kindle that may promise some pleasant surprises. However, I found it is not easy to keep the reader entertained and have plots equally interesting. Probably, you better be honest and decide when to stop before becoming too redundant and boring, like in life, in general.
For now, I enjoyed reading a lot Harry Potter series and could not wait to wait for the next adventures. This is what I think the successful series. When you finish one book and want to see what is going on next, what are the challenges and trials of your imaginary characters. 
By far, my favourite series in a while are the Arkane, by JFPenn. I started with One Day in Budapest, which I really liked it and most recently, continued with the first three books from the series, which I'd read one after the other. There is a lot of action, surprising changes of the plot, good writing and well profiled characters. It uses the nowadays interest for religious mysteries with some fragrance of political conspiracies, but she does it right with wisdom, knowledge and talent. Although I was not so in line with some of the opinions expressed in the Arch of Blood, it still keeps me interested in the adventures of the special Morgan Sierra, and right now I am much into the Day of the Vikings, that I received as a free complimentary gift. 
Overall, I like reading good series, but I reckon that it is not easy to find good ones. For writers, it is a good plan to create some, as it helps with the marketing and other promotion goals, but also creates a steady and curious readership. I am not sure I will start writing series right now, as I am more focused on my foodie essays and other non-fictio projects, but if I will, it will be either a mystery or an interesting thriller. 

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